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New Quest/Area Idea - Project Moreau
In 2092, a doctor was exiled from Vault City on charges of murder. Changing his name to Richard Grey, he journeyed through the California wastelands on his way to a grisly fate as the psionic demi-god known to men as "The Master". But the residents of Vault City knew the reviled doctor by a different surname...Moreau. Features Creates a new set of quests related to Doc Barrows' work on deghoulification in Underworld. Inserts the National Institutes of Health into the Bethesda Ruins. New off-map complex based near Omaha, Nebraska. Special opportunities and rewards for players with high Charisma as well as Medical and/or Science skills. New companions from entirely new races. Some really horrible puns. 100% Lore-Compatible. Story Doc Barrows is working on curing the "ghoul condition". But there's only so much he can do with a few scalpels and X-rays; he needs a complete human cadaver to perform a thorough comparitive autopsy on. No no, not YOU...he's not out to murder anyone. But all those body parts languishing in the Super Mutants' Gore Bags all over the Capital Wasteland would do for the purpose, wouldn't they? Of course, the autopsy's only the start, on a quest leading from the DC Mall to the Bethesda Ruins and finally out to the flatland wastes of long-lost Nebraska... Main Quest Parts Is Parts Activating the mod puts new dialogue options into Barrows' conversation about researching ghoulification. Now, the player has the opportunity to fetch body parts from Gore Bags. Building a complete cadaver (two arms, two legs, torso, organs and skull) results in a reward of stimpacks and XP, triggering the next quest. What A Prick Barrows is disgusted at the limited results of the autopsy, but it's enough to show him that he needs to perform DNA sampling comparisons if he expects to get anywhere. He already has ghoul DNA readily on hand, but needs a sample from that rarest of creatures: a pure-strain human. * DON'T QUALIFY * The player, having not actually come from Vault 101 stock. * The Garys of Vault 108, being clones, and defective clones at that. * Any wastelanders, especially Point Lookout's swamp folk. But the results might be funny... * QUALIFY * Enclave soldiers/officers/technicians, including Colonel Autumn. * Any of the humans (with the exception of Somah) appearing on Mothership Zeta. * Vault 101 residents. Extraction can be taken easily from a dead body, but permission will be needed from the living (or a successful "Pickpocket"). Once the DNA is obtained and returned to Barrows, he realizes that his own equipment simply isn't up to the job. It's useless to him unless a proper comparison can be done, and the only place he remembers that might have the gear for it --- and is reportedly still standing --- would be the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. If the player opts out of the quest at this point, he gets a disgusted response and a small reward of caps "for the bother". The Secrets Of NIH To the immediate north of the Bethesda Offices are two buildings: one squat and wide, the other ruined. The intact wing houses what's left of the National Institute of Health's Office of the Director, which was almost entirely given over to the NIH's administrative work in pre-War days. They contain(ed) the following: * INTACT WING: National Institutes for (one each) Aging, Nursing Research, General Medical Sciences, Mental Health, and Human Genome Research. Also the Addiction Institute (conglomeration of Alcohol, Drug and Allergy/Infection Disease Institutes), National Library of Medicine (publisher of the D.C. Medical Journal), and the Center for Scientific Review. * DESTROYED WING: National Institutes for (one each) Cancer, the Eye, Heart Blood and Lung, Arthritis, Dental Disease, Neurological Affliction, and Diabetes. Also the Center for Information Technology, NIH Clinical Center, and Center for Research Resources. On entry to the building, the player is confronted with a small horde of Albino Mole Rats. These are the result of rodent experiments started by the National Institute for Mental Health during the early 1970s, accelerated by use of the Forced Evolutionary Virus from 2075 - 2077. Codename: Cloacina (referenced in a surviving Pentagon archive computer) describes the common Mole Rat as having been created to infest China with "Mutant Undermining Lifeforms", these being bred without use of FEV because it led to sterility. Albino Mole Rats, however, were a late and successful attempt to infuse intellect into the Cloacina subjects. These results have been seen elsewhere in Fallout games, such as with Fallout 2's "Keeng" and "Brain", though these were cases of common Mole Rats infected with the airborne FEV strain under uncontrolled circumstances. It is also worth noting that, according to lore, all Mole Rats, Pig Rats and Giant Rats are related. Albino Mole Rats will require reskinning a standard Mole Rat for white skin, pink undertones, and red eyes, adding the skills of Small Arms (32%) and Unarmed (48%). The Rats escaped captivity during the opening moments of the Great War, fleeing into the depths of the NIH complex for protection and later taking it over for their own purposes. They have survived by scavenging the ruins of the Capital Wasteland under cover of darkness, having a natural aversion to sunlight, and have figured out how to use tools (after a clumsy fashion), but are physically unable to manage anything bigger than a rifle. Their best means of self-defense are Frag Mines and other booby-traps. Being in an effective state of war with the Raiders who've taken up residence elsewhere in the Bethesda Ruins, the Rats have heavily booby-trapped the administrative rooms leading deeper into the building, and will oppose the player's access unless a deal is reached: * Help the Rats eliminate Raiders in the area (either a certain number, 10 or so, or by clearing the area) * AND/OR hand over the Mole Rat Repellent Stick if the player has it (they can smell it, and NOT handing it over results in immediate attack) Note that the Animal Friend perk will result in better responses and may even allow building access without having to attack the Raiders. Under no circumstances, however, will the Rats allow the player to continue to possess the Repellent Stick, which they see as a tool for genocide. Access to the building leads the player to a wealth of background information as well as some minor troves of medical value. * National Institute for Mental Health: a few computers with archived articles and reports. Most of these cover the controversy over NIMH's focus on the brain and genetics (an actual real-world controversy) and its effective takeover, along with the National Institute for Human Genome Research, by West Tek in the early '00s (the Naught-ies). One details the origins of Codename: Cloacina, starting with Dr. John B. Calhoun's research on social overcrowding using rats in the early '70s (a real-world project which inspired the novel "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH"). Last project leader was Robert C. O'Brien (a nod to the novelist), who reports on a nearby holotape that both the intelligent and non-intelligent breeds of the rats have escaped, just as the bombs are impacting --- perhaps a poor set of priorities, but he is a scientist after all. * National Institute for Human Genome Research: here is the equipment for performing the DNA comparisons, along with a lot of other high-tech medical gear --- some of it apparently of alien origins (optional Mothership Zeta influence) and all of it well-kept by the Rats. The same computer which runs the DNA tests also networks with the rest of the West Tek Genetic Research operations and reports their status (Bethesda: STANDBY, Los Angeles: STANDBY, Boseman: OFFLINE, and Omaha: ACTIVE). Note that Los Angeles is the West Tek "Glow" facility from Fallout 1. Another computer contains fragmentary data on "Project Moreau", which is listed as a branch of the FEV project specializing in continuing the original animal research and advanced genetics, under project head Richard Moreau. This triggers a Map Marker in the extreme west of the Capital Wasteland leading off-map to the Omaha complex. Possible means of getting there: by foot (a month's travel each way!), a conveniently-discovered motorbike which breaks down on return (or simply integration with the Global Travel System mod), or even imposing on the Brotherhood of Steel for a Vertibird ride out with subsequent pickup and return. * National Institute for General Medical Sciences: computer notes show discovery, via extensive studies, of long-term damage caused by radiation, even in persons who use Rad-Away (which does not repair cellular damage already done). Genetic defects may appear in later generations, with some minor mutations already having been observed, and being more common by far than found in test animals. * Center for Scientific Review: tish-toshes all talk of harm via radiation as "alarmist", particularly mocking a cautionary report from GMS about symptoms which sound like ghoulification. Hacking into the Director's personal computer reveals orders from "on high" to suppress all negative reports regarding radiation or anything nuclear-related, under national security concerns, being as that by the 2070s so much of the US economy and war readiness was bound up in nuclear energy. The Director was also apparently taking kickbacks from Nuka-Cola regarding its new Quantum drink and the radioactive isotopes therein...his safe has 15 Pre-War Money in it and a thank-you note inviting the Director over to the Bottling Plant for a tour (optional Guest Pass for the Nuka-Cola plant?). Return to Doc Barrows with the DNA comparison data, and he gets very excited...yes, there MAY be a ghoulification cure! Callooh, callay! Ghoulification is, in short, the human body's defensive reaction to massive irradiation, engendering a spontaneous rewriting of the subject's genetic code to incorporate, rather than reject, its effects on bodily tissue. This results in the subject growing new tissue to replace damaged portions, harnessing the energy of the radiation itself to provide the catalyst. Unfortunately, the effects don't manifest until the body has already been ravaged, with the new cells taking on the already-damaged aspects of the cells they replace. Some small amount of cellular data is also lost with each regeneration, eventually leading to mental degeneration and the accompanying "Feral" affliction. Therefore, a regimen of radiation cleansing using Rad-Away, in concert with a viral medication which inserts human-norm DNA patterns into the body via its bloodstream, should effectively "reset" a given subject to their former humanity. Theoretically this treatment could include Wastelander DNA, but Doc Barrows wants to eliminate all chance of stray mutagens or radiation particles munging things up. PROJECT MOREAU Of course, it's not going to be QUITE that easy, is it? The NIH's facilities, though impressive, didn't have the equipment to actually tweak DNA or refit a retrovirus. Fortunately, the player found a place that might --- West Tek's Omaha genetics and animal testing facility, housing "Project Moreau", was listed as still being Active. Could the answer lie there? Whether on foot, by ground vehicle, or by Brotherhood Vertibird, traveling to Nebraska puts the player in the middle of a huge, flat, blasted expanse which was once a vast cornfield planted expressly to hide the "Moreau" complex. There are no roads or buildings in sight, nothing but a helipad atop a squat bunker (NOTE: I'm using the Raven Rock bunker entrance for this area, as well as much of its infrastructure, given the similar nature of the biolabs and the origins of the two facilities..."Moreau" has more in common with Raven Rock than with any Vaults). A very persistent player may be able to find some concealed exits half-covered by dirt and weeds scattered here and there over a wide area, but all of them will be "opened from somewhere else" (i.e., locked from below). Entry to the complex is simple: a coded transmission downloaded into the player's Pip-Boy along with the Map Marker. Getting close to the entrance automatically opens the door and sets off the entry alert, which is how VIP guests were normally received when the facility was properly staffed. CHAIN OF RESEARCH 1940s: Barbara McClintock (American, historical) discovers "jumping DNA" (transposons) while studying corn genetics. This lays the groundwork for all Pan-Immunity Virion and Forced Evolutionary Virus research. 1950s: Francis Crick and James Watson (British and American, historical) create the DNA model. 2002: West Tek founded, using its power within the military-industrial complex and ties to the shadow government to absorb the National Institutes for Mental Health and Human Genome Research. 2003: Human Genome Sequence complete (historical). 2055: West Tek's work in (unsuccessfully) developing a counter to the New Plague lays the foundation for their later research into FEV. 2073: Pan-Immunity Virion Project begun with aim of combating the expected Red Chinese use of biological warfare. 2075 - 2076: Animal experiments, beginning with single-celled organisms (after which PIV is renamed FEV), are highly successful. Testing moves on to flatworms, white mice, rabbits, raccoons, dogs and chimpanzees. A number of the raccoons escape, two pairs of which evade being hunted and exterminated. Increases in size, intellect, and immunities to disease and radiation are prominently noted, as well as increases in aggression amongst most of the test species. 2077, January: Military orders FEV research transferred to Mariposa Military Base for testing on human prisoners, despite protests from the FEV team under West Tek Research Head Leon von Felden. 2077, February: Not to be outdone, and with support from its friends in the Enclave shadow government, West Tek continues pursuit of von Felden's animal research as a mirror to the Mariposa "Super Soldier" program. Dr. Richard Moreau, one of America's top animal geneticists, is tapped to head the "Zodiac" program at a new facility built outside Omaha, Nebraska. THE TALE OF RICHARD GREY At some point, the player will find computer records to the effect that the bombs are falling, and that Doctor Richard Moreau's helicopter flight from a medical conference in Anchorage was re-routed to Nevada's Vault 8 "for the duration of the emergency". Unable to leave due to the Vault's status as an experimental control, Moreau remained in contact with Omaha via his personal communications briefcase and used his medical expertise to become one of the Vault's chief doctors. From 2077 onwards, Moreau continued to collaborate with Omaha, secretly obtaining medical samples and other data from his unconscious patients to augment work on the "Zodiac". Even when the Vault opened in 2090, he elected to stay in order to continue his research, having become more and more detached from humanity during his years underground. In 2091, impatient to "cross the threshold", he abducted a Vault Cityresident and injected him with a retroviral compound. Developed in Omaha from the Zodiac Dogs, the compound was meant to confer the canine ability to resist radiation, but instead triggered a transmogrification that turned the hapless Vault dweller into a ravening monstrosity. Initially, Moreau was able to throw off suspicion by claiming he'd been attacked by a wasteland mutant, but the placement of the attack and lack of other witnesses led to an investigation and the discovery of blackened bits of the missing dweller's Vault uniform in Moreau's furnace. The discovery of his collaboration notes thereafter would have sealed his fate but for the intervention of the Overseer, acting under orders from Vault-Tec to spare his life. Not that this was meant with any particular humanity: Moreau's "funny-animal" projects had long been considered a drain on resources by the rest of the FEV project leads, whose Super Mutant-related research dominated the overall program. He was meant to be dragged off to the Poseidon rig and be formally disgraced before the Enclave leadership so that his project could be dismantled. Instead, Moreau sent one final transmission to Omaha, triggering a mass cage release and granting full access to the facility to its inmates. His final blow struck, he fled into the wastes, changing his name to Richard Grey with the intent of restarting his life on a clean slate. The rest is Fallout history.